Critics picks: Best visual art of 2010 by Tim Kane

Visual arts critic Tim Kane weighs in on the best visual arts of 2010
Selecting a standout exhibition for 2010 is tough. From Degas, Picasso, Sargent, Wyeth and Durer to Petah Coyne, Jules Ulitsky, Larry Poons, Carrol Dunham and Fred Tomaselli, the historical and contemporary artists displayed achieved quite a range. And, for the most part, these were just the solo exhibitions.
Add local artists John Hampshire, Jeri Eisenberg, Richard Garrison, Ben Schwab, Michael Oatman, Deborah Zlotsky and newcomer Claire Sherman, to mention a few, who made appearances large and small, the visual arts scene reached a high level of consistency.
From January’s “Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With” at Mass MoCA to this month’s “The Strange World of Albrecht Durer” at the Clark Art Institute, the art tumbled forth with acuity. In no particular order, here are the highlights for the year:Exhibitions
■ “Fred Tomaselli” at the Tang. A wild imagination perfectly executed on canvas.
■ “Critical Stitch” at the Mandeville Gallery. The fiber arts are rarely so fine.
■ “Portraits in Praise of Women” at the Fenimore Art Museum. Sargent’s gift was painting what his subjects conveyed, not his judgment of what they were.Specific artworks
■ “Standing Nude” (1907) by Picasso in “Picasso Looks at Degas” at the Clark. Such a seminal work of modern art, less than an hour away.
■ “All Utopias Fell” (2010) by Michael Oatman at Mass MoCA. (It reopens this spring) This site-specific installation — a converted 1970s Airstream trailer — is like taking a journey to the heart of the sun — and thensome.
■ “Niagara” (1878) by William Morris Hunt at the Williams College Museum of Art. If you couldn’t make it to western New York for the summer, seeing this monumental canvas during the winter was a fine replacement.